July 30, 2018

New Jersey residents are bracing themselves for Hurricane Sandy, but Governor Chris Christie and Newark Mayor are doing their best to put their constituents’ minds at ease by keeping them informed. Christie and Booker are among the best when it comes to politicians who understand the power of using social media tools like Twitter to spread messages. Their tweets regarding Hurricane Sandy are no exception:

Christie and Booker exemplify what we look for in politicians: officials who genuinely look out for the needs and concerns of their constituents. And New Jersey residents can rest assured that they will not be alone in riding out the coming storm.

Governor Christie Press Briefing In Pompton Lakes On Hurricane Sandy

Governor Christie: Thank you all very much and thank you for being here. I've had an opportunity to meet with local officials to discuss preparations for potential flooding that's likely to occur during Hurricane Sandy. I'll let Commissioner Martin get into the specifics momentarily in terms of what we're expecting to see and what we've already prepared for. However, one thing seems fairly certain at this point: we should plan to see heavy rain that lasts for 36 hours once the storm starts to hit later tonight into early tomorrow morning. We all know what this means for some communities in New Jersey. Flooding is a very real and serious concern for many families, and I know that for those of you who have lived through this before my words offer little comfort when faced with the problems left behind in the aftermath of flooding. The hard reality is that even if we do everything within our power to prepare we can't stop the storm, and we can't completely mitigate the negative impact it's bound to have. But there are steps we can take now to try to mitigate the damage as much as possible, so let me go through what we've done.

To start, after listening to the leaders of many of our communities here in this part of the state, we've lowered the reservoirs at Woodcliff Lake, Charlotteburg, Wanaque, Boonton, Lake Hopatcong, and Pompton Lake. Pompton Lakes prerelease began shortly after 11 AM Saturday, was lowered five feet. It's the most I think we've ever lowered Pompton Lake. Release ended at 5:45 PM Saturday and the gates will be adjusted to maintain the five-foot level until the rain begins.

Lake Hopatcong's drawdown began late Friday and will continue until the storms begin. Gates are then closed to decrease potential flooding downstream along the Musconetcong River. New York State stopped prereleasing from Lake DeForest at 8 PM on Saturday, allowing enough time for the water to move through Lake Tappan and the Oradell Reservoir before the storm. Commissioner Martin has been working directly with mayors and local officials to make sure that they're able to do everything within their power to prepare. That means sweeping streets, clearing storm drains and basins, and desnagging rivers. It's been one of our priorities to give these communities so often hard hit by the flooding the necessary flexibility to act, and so act first and worry about the DEP later, OK? This is one of those times that uses one of my favorite sayings: it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, all right, so get done what you need to get done.

We're also prepared to act just as aggressively as we did in 2011 to help families who are repeated victims of home flooding. Through the FEMA hazard mitigation grant funding we're acting to buy out or elevate properties in some flood areas in the northern and central part of the state. Right now we're on track to acquire 267 properties, to elevate 45 more through the accelerated home buyout program. Over $63 million has been dedicated to these projects already. Through the Blue Acres Program the DEP has targeted 540 homes in the Passaic River Basin for acquisition. Across all past and ongoing state programs 628 homes have been purchased. An additional 95 have been elevated. Over $188 million has been dedicated for flood mitigation projects in the state. A few other announcements.

First off, I want to restate that we have issued mandatory evacuations for today at 4 PM for the barrier islands from Sandy Hook south to Cape May, including the casinos in Atlantic City. In Ocean County this includes all of Long Beach Island, Bay Head, Berkeley Township on the Island, Brick Township on the Island, Lavallette, Mantoloking, Seaside Heights, Seaside Park, and Toms River Township on the Island. In Atlantic County, Atlantic City, Avalon, Longport, Margate City, Brigantine, and Ventnor City; Cape May County: Cape May City, Wildwood, North Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, Sea Isle City, Ocean City, Stone Harbor, and Strathmere. I want to reinforce a point I made yesterday. If you can stay in your home and you're not in one of these mandatory evacuation areas, stay in your home, but be prepared for the reality that you may be there for a few days and potentially without electricity. Have the necessary food, water, prescription medicine and other supplies that you'll need to last for a few days. Take the time today. We've got some hours left before the bad weather hits to get ready...

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